Calorie Restriction Prevents Neurodegeneration

Posted on June 15, 2013

Calorie restriction could be more than a weight loss technique. It may prevent nerve cell loss in the brain, and even contribute to increased lifespan and delayed aging. A new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience tested these hypotheses and discovered a potential target for drug therapy that could prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Huntington’s Disease.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a series of experiments on mice that had been engineered to undergo rapid neurodegeneration. To test the effects of calorie restriction, half of the mice were fed normal diets and half of the mice received only 70% of the calories of the normal diet. After three months, the researchers evaluated the learning and memory skills of all the mice. The mice that ate a normal diet showed significant decreases in learning and memory, while the calorie-restricted mice showed no deficits.